Mental Illness, Gun Access and Carrying

A Test of Competing Hypotheses

Dados Bibliográficos

ID13655083
AutoresMiranda L Baumann (0009-0001-5241-0832, Georgia State University, autor correspondente)
Ano2024
Volume128
Fascículo1
Páginas36-77
Data de publicação2024-01-07
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoPsychological Reports (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 0033-2941 • E-ISSN: 1558-691X
EditoraSAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/00332941231225169
PMID38185670
OpenAlexW4390665380
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas1
Referências citadas106

Access to firearms among individuals with mental health problems has been a source of protracted debate among policymakers, the media, and the public, writ large. At the center of this controversy are questions about the nature and consequences of gun access in the context of mental illness. The lack of substantial empirical evidence, due in part to limited access to quality data, plays a significant role in perpetuating ongoing debate. To address this problem, this study uses data from the National Comorbidity Survey Replication to evaluate the relative importance of several clinical, cultural, and criminological factors in explaining gun access and carrying among adults with and without mental illnesses. Multivariate analyses reveal that, whereas past year disorder (of any type or severity) and other clinical characteristics were unrelated to firearm access, several cultural factors such as childhood rurality (e.g., OR rural vs. urban : 3.59; 95% CI: 2.52, 5.12) and the criminological experience of early intimate partner violence (e.g., OR victim only vs. noexp : 1.84; 95% CI: 1.50, 2.26) were. None were predictive of carrying. Further, none of the relationships observed were conditioned on any of the clinical characteristics. These results indicate that people with mental illnesses likely own and carry guns for the same reasons and in the same contexts as others. Additional updated and quality data is needed to further explore these issues; however, these finding suggest that suicide and violence prevention efforts targeting people with mental illnesses need to be sensitive to the cultural and personal significance of guns

Context (archaeology · Environmental health · Geography · Injury prevention · Mental health · Mental illness · National Comorbidity Survey · Poison control · Psychiatry · Rural area · Rurality · Suicide prevention · Clinical Psychology · Crime Patterns and Interventions · Gun Ownership and Violence Research · Human Factors and Ergonomics · Medicine · Psychology · Suicide and Self-Harm Studies